The Statue of Brothers, Korean War Museum

Not many outside of Korea realize that the Korean War, known in South Korea as the 'June 25 War' and which exists in ideology to this day, was caused by the fall of the Japanese Empire and the spread of the Cold War. Japan ruled the Korean peninsula as a colony from 1910 to 1945 but was disempowered at the end of World War II. Ironically though, Japan did not pay a great price for its aggressive actions in inciting war through loss of any of its own country but instead its colonies paid that price. The Korean peninsula, a colony of Japan for 35 years, was divided up roughly at the 39th parallel with Russia, who had entered World War II only a week before the war terminated, occupying North Korea and the US staying on as protectorate until 1948 of South Korea. At first the 39th parallel was rather porous but as Russian rule intensified in its escalating communistic doctrines, more and more people fled across the dividing parallel until by 1949, escaping North Korea had become nearly impossible.

Shortly after the Korean peninsula ('Joseon' according to the Koreans themselves) was severed, North Korea called itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) - Yes, ironically referring to itself as democratic for that was the nationwide demand at the time so the promises and the nomenclature did seem favorable. Another irony is that South Korea called itself the Republic of Korea (ROK), but the ROK and not the DPRK was the country that was organized and had a constitution drawn up based on democracy. The triple irony is that neither ever were democracies in name or action as communism in the North was exacting and incompatible with democracy, self-gain and individualism while in the South, in loathing communism and desiring to purge that ideology from the land, another form of dictatorship was created. So based on the ideologies of the Cold War and countries that occupied the Korean peninsula and separating it as an outcome of World War II in which the Koreans played no role, the Joseon people were divided: father from son, husband from wife, and brother from brother.

When the Korean War started on June 25, 1950, South Korea was unprepared. In the Korean War Museum, film clippage shows couples dancing nonchalantly, citizens going about their daily business, and even large numbers of soldiers had been released from the front so they could help their families plant the precious staple of the land, rice. The North Koreans in stealth invaded and due to radios, TVs and other means of telecommunication being virtually non-existent, for many weeks even the North Korean citizens did not know their country had invaded South Korea as they were informed via word-of-mouth that South Korea had invaded the North. When they did find out that their government had been the aggressors, they were already bound in the spirit of national defense, defense of the homeland and of their families around them. It was an ugly war of family members fighting separated family members. And it is still an ugly war of family members unnecessarily separated across a narrow 4km boundary due to differing governmental ideologies.

Kim Dae Jung, South Korean president from 1998-2003, worked to garner a more amicable relationship with North Korea through his Sunshine Policy for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2000). The Sunshine Policy had intermittent gleams of success in improving North-South Korean relations but when Lee Myung Bak, present president of South Korea, took office in 2008, the kindled interactions were extinguished.

The Statue of Brothers
And yet, South Korea dreams on for the reuniting of the nation. Outside the Korea War Museum is the Statue of Brothers, depicting an older brother as a ROK officer meeting his younger brother as a DPRK soldier and reconciling in love and forgiveness on the divided (notice the crack) battleground. [I find the status and ages projected on the two soldiers rather ideocentric, especially since status and age determined seniority and thus wisdom and who should protect whom. Prior to the Korean War, South Korea was the weaker of the two counties: it was comprised mostly of agricultural land, had very few factories and power generators, and virtually no industries or means of organized production as well as no natural resources. And so to project itself as the older brother and as a officer suggests a kind of ideocentric, perhaps even ethnocentric, superiority over the brother-country. I'm not sure when this statue was built but until, I believe, the early 1970s North Korea had the superior economy until suddenly the Miracle of the Han River, South Korea's rapidly expanding economy, shot past the North Korean economy and North Korea ceased to announce its economic world standing.]

Comments on South Koreans' thoughts for reunification
Since the late 1990s I have heard less and less about South Korean citizens wanting reunification. This change in attitude I think is most specifically related to the financial crisis in 1997, which South Koreans term the "IMF Crisis", a term implying blame on the IMF (International Monetary Fund) which was a bailout for South Korea but was a "loss of face" to the South Koreans on an international scale for needing outside assistance for their internal financial problems. By 2002 the South Korean economy had recovered, but even though President Kim Dae Jung was glorying in his Nobel Prize for the Sunshine Policy, fewer and fewer Korean citizens were actually talking about reunification. They were satisfied with their economic status, and North Korea, known as one of the poorest countries in the world, would drag down their economy again. [The economies of East and West Germany before reunification canNOT be compared as East Germany was the wealthiest country of the eastern block countries, so subsuming it into the West German economy was financially draining but not inconceivable. North Korea, on the other hand, has been considered one of the poorest countries in the world so for South Korea to economically "assist" North Korea would be financially exhausting.]

Families have been separated for more than 60 years now and relationships and brotherhood sentiments are mellowed through extended family distance. And now, fewer and fewer elderly members are being reunited at Gaesung, just over the border in North Korea. Mix the distance of time and the again burgeoning economy with politics and you will realize that democracy which was finally instated in the 1988 presidential elections (on paper) but which had to be won through street fights, demonstrations and violence is now being taken for granted by the younger generation (if fast-dropping voting rates are an indicator). The younger generations who were first estranged before birth from family links and further estranged by the development of political freedom seem simply content with their economic comforts and self-advancement.

Now when South Korea talks about reunification with North Korea (most obviously at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)), talk is about (1) expansionism into North Korea where there is more land and where it can be developed, and (2) the DMZ can be created into a giant, symbolic peace park. At the DMZ South Korea shows pictures of how it could be landscaped into a giant garden with walkways and trees (rather commercialized in my opinion) ... but I am curious what plans North Korea would have for that DMZ land, and if their plans are compatible with South Korea's idea for a Peace Park. They have been informed of South Korea's intention but does the North Korean ideology and value system regard a vast park for tourism as the suitable future boundary defining a former Communistic country and a Capitalistic one?

Locking Your Romance

Namsan, the southern mountain of four key mountains that once nestled Seoul is now nestled within Seoul's sprawling urbanness. The top of the mountain is no longer for religious events or calming and cooling retreats from the summer heat of Seoul. Its age-old history with its segment of creeping 18km of protective wall has been subsumed by modern culture into a park for the Seoulites and a hangout for lovers.

Lovers flock up the mountain via the cable car on the northern slope, via buses up the southern road and by climbing up the various foot paths to enjoy the scenic overview. They come to feed themselves on the salty-buttered popcorn, misty pastel clouds of cotton candy and fastfood while some with a deeper desire to enjoy a seat in the fancy revolving restaurant at the top of Seoul Tower with its panoramic view of Seoul wait in long lines for the romantic pleasure.

But one particular "lover" event is rather unique to Namsan - it is the Rooftop Terrace where lovers come to eternally confess their love to each other by symbolically leaving a padlock with its personalized lover-message on the Terrace fence. Then to symbolically demonstrate that their love will forever remain unbroken, until recently they would throw the key into the forest below so as never to open and remove the lock of eternal declaration. Nature was not so happy about the keys tossed on it and with the rise in concern for environmental problems, sign postings are now intermittently hung advising lovers not to dispose of their keys on nature. Padlocks of all shapes and sizes are visible and the new trend is to weave colorful bicycle chain-locks in a heart-shaped pattern amongst the mesh of the fence and the other padlocks. And if a pair of romantic birds forget their padlock before climbing Namsan, the shop at the top has a wide selection of padlocks for the unprepared.

A huge curiosity I have about the eternal-declaration thing is that boy-/girl-friends are casually made and easily broken now so what happens when one lock is hung, it can't be undone, and someone straggles up the mountain with a new boy-/girl-friend and another symbolic padlock? Seems rather inevitable as Namsan is now at the heart of Seoul and is a fashionable place for lovers to confess their (changeable) hearts.

Pear and Honey

Have a cold or feel a fever coming on? Then the homeopathic treatment for you is crushed pear and honey steeped in hot water and drunk while still hot. While westerners consider healing foods based on their vitamins and minerals - such as lemons rich in Vitamin-C for fighting sore throats, fevers and lowered immune systems - Ayurvedic, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and other Oriental Medicines consider foods on their hot-cold, dry-moist, and neutral elements. [From my studies I believe that Korean Oriental Medicine functions only on the dichotomy of hot-cold as I have never encountered the dry-moist dichotomy. And if it does exist, it is my guess that it exists only in fossilized functions as the hot-cold dichotomy exists in American English - examples, "the dog is in heat", "he has a cold" or "is running a fever".]

In Ayurvedic or TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) honey is neither a hot nor cold food and therefore is beneficial for both the yin and the yang body types as well as possessing the proper temperature balance for mixing with other foods. It is a natural tonic which slows down acute symptoms and neutralizes toxic effects on the body, eradicating those effects, a cough for example. On the other hand, the pear is a yin or cool food, and so with its medicinal value and yin temperature controling balance, it is appropriate for those having a fever as the pear cools the body and helps restore the body's natural temperature balance.

The 배 'pear' is round and firm and not to be confused with the soft, juicy (some say 'mushy') 양배 or 'western pear' with is slender neck and bulging rear. Unlike the western pear, the 배 'pear' is widely known for its medicinal efficacy for phlegm, sputum, the alleviation of fever and stimulating regular bowel movements. And according to a recent study, the pear is "a fruit having a sovereign remedy in preventing cancer, expelling carcinogens from the body". So next time you have a fever and are looking for a natural healer, consider the restorative temperature healing properties of the 배 'pear' and its complement, the toxin-purging honey.

Ancient Kingdom of Mahan, near Paju

In Jeollanamdo south of Kwangju are a scattering of great tumuli (grave mounds) from the ancient kingdom of Mahan, contemporary to the better known kingdoms of Silla, Baekje and Gaya. The grave burials in appearance are similar to those in Kyungju, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla, but when excavated the tumulis reveal different burial practices and cultural relics that speak of another great kingdom with pottery and metal jewelry and footwear signifying creative advancement similar to that of Silla: a gilt-bronze crown, gilt-bronze shoes, metal worked tools, jade, among other treasures depicting skill and craftmanship.


Pictured are the Bannam tumuli made more into a tourist attraction due to the concentration of tumuli here - notice the chrysanthemums: a chrsanthemum festival is held at the end of October to encourage tourism, the site itself must be made attractive to procure touristic interest (!). However, the surrounding area has many tumuli and they have only been carefully groomed, trees removed and grass kept short as a show of respect to ancestors. Apparently this area has not been excavated as extensively as those in Kyungju, but in excavating this region known as the Yeongsan River Region the unique jar coffin burial are revealed in stone chambers which are situated above ground within the tumuli. This distinction in burial differs greatly from the Goguryeo Kingdom era which filled its tombs with stone supposedly now thought as a deterent to grave robbing, from the Beakje stone chamber tomb, from the Silla stone-filled wooden coffin tomb, and finally from the Gaya stone coffin tomb. These tumuli were constructed in the 3rd-6th centuries, but with the development of the kingdom, by the 4th century the height of the grave mounds grew, some as high 40 and 50 meters.

The tombs are thought to contain the ruling class of the region and in the Yeongsan River Region, Bannam is thought to be the center of the ancient ruling class people. It is thought that due to discoveries found in the excavation that through the Yeongsan River the Mahan had active exchange of goods between the Beakje, Gaya and the Japanese.

Cultural Thoughts on Burying the Dead
A mixture of the ancient tumuli in the background and the more recent, modern-day style of tomb-making in the foreground: The material of the tomb is really not considered important when building a typical tomb, but the location as determined through pungsujiri and the shape itself of the tomb are very important. The location determines the ki or energy that the ancestor is able to gather and channel into its family members, and so family members are ever so careful in choosing the correct location for it will ensure their own success. The tomb is to be rounded and figuratively depicts a pregnant woman, a woman who will metaphysically give birth through cultural thought, advancement to her descendents, and guidance - this shows the cycle of life, the cycle of birth and death and their interconnections through the family. And it is only family, the blood related members, who can receive the blessings of the ancestors, and for this reason, adoption is not to be culturally considered for how can adopted children be connected to the cycle of tending the ancestors graves so that the ancestors can reciprocate through on-going protection and blessings?

Because Koreans are paying less and less attention to ancestor regards (worship isn't the correct term) and because cremation is now becoming an accepted way of dealing with the body (somewhere between 6~9% of all arable farmland is used for tombs according to research, a considerable sum considering land prices and population per km), adoption is being thought of more positively ... actually for this and many social reasons and reflections of social change, which basically reflect the breaking down of the "우리" or us/our in Korean society.

Uhangri Dinosaur Tracks

In 1972 the first dinosaur remains were discovered in South Korea. Since that time as many as 27 dinosaur track localities have been discovered with a few spots getting avid international archeological attention. The five spots that have received the most attention as far as publications and being generally publicized are Haenam (Uhangri, the site where these pictures were taken), Hwasun, Yeosu, Goseong and Masan. The point they share in common is their coastal or marshland borders.

Common when Koreans talk about their country, they include such phrases as "best", "most", "biggest", and other judgemental superlatives, implying a constant comparison with self and others. But when talking about the Uhangri Dinosaur field, such terms can appropriately be applied.

Uhangri has the ...

... first identified ptersosaur tracks found in Asia (1996) and the XX meter track is the longest in the world with the largest footprint in the world at 35 cm and whose bone fossils have been reported in international academic circles.
... only site in the world where pterosaurs, dinosaurs and bird tracks are found in a single location.
... only site in the world of star-shaped dinosaur prints

... oldest fossilized webbed footprints (suggested at 83 million years ago).
... largest footprints of the two-legged and four-legged herbivorous dinosaurs in Korea.

Among the dinosaur tracks in the limestone are trace fossils and silicified wood. The sideway scuttle of some larger crab are evident on some rocks and more is evident for the trained eye. I must say though, I had to carefully read most of the information posts and study the accompanying pictures carefully in order to see some of the phenomenon more easily visibly to the paleoanthropologist's eye. And as far as the rock that has the older webbed footprint on it is concerned, no matter how hard I studied that map I couldn't find the webbed imprint. So I took a picture (posted to the left) and in the left side of the map is where the webbed footpads can be found ... according to the information.

In Haenam, the closest large town approximately 30 minutes away by local bus, I asked several individuals about the dinosaur tracks. They were interested in me being interested in their local famed site but didn't feel especially akin to the field of tracks itself, even though the dinosaur tracks are listed as one of Korea's Natural Heritages. At first I was a little surprised by their rather nonchalant attitude concerning something that deserves so much academic attention and could bring fame and tourism to their town, boosting their local economy.
One local shopkeeper even tried to warn me off from my visit to the tracks; he kept repeating "keets" "keets", and finally I got it! He was telling me the place was for "kids"! Wow, but I realized that such a comment reflects marketing strategies and people's expectations nowadays in Korea about what is "FUN" and what isn't ... and the younger generations cetainly don't think history is "FUN". [As it turned out, it was a very impressive educational museum on dinosaurs, not interactive at all, but I guess the historic site was marketed as a big adventure land where you can go see huge tough-looking dinosaurs ... and enjoy the museum restuarant or extensive lawns for a picnic.]

But the puzzle about why the locals weren't particularly interested in their local Natural Heritage needed more thought. Last year in Gurye, also in Jeollanamdo, I was interested in meeting some of the centennarians of the gun (area). Everyone - from the taxi driver to the shopkeepers to the people we met on the streets and in restaurants - were hyper-proud of their local people who had reached the venerable age of 100. Everyone had comments on their elderly community, why they could live that long and the remote atmosphere of their town in the foothills of Jiri Mountain as being beneficial for longevity. But here in Haenam I didn't find the same enthusiasm on their cultural heritage, and after a bit of thought, I realized it was the connection of 'people'. Gurye is proud of its people, who are a part of themselves, which epitomizes the concept of "우리", us/our. Koreans are very group-centered and there are clear distinctions between 'us' in the family, 'us' in the community, 'us' in the nation, and if you are not a part of 'us' then you are an 'outsider'. And so when the locals were regarding their local Natural Heritage, it was only a place, not a connection to the Korean people as a nation as people and dinosaurs did not coexist; therefore, the site was only a place of amusement, entertainment or place to be, but not one that connects and bonds the ancestors together with those in the present. The locals were certainly proud of their local heritage but not in the way that I was expecting.

Sipping in Style in Seoul

Birthday celebrations are great over food, particularly when added with a touch of the exotic, and Seoul now has a wide diversity of foods and atmospheres to have an unusual but very memorable dining experience. An all-time favorite is Taj Palace. The food is Pakistani by name, delightful in flavor from the middle-eastern blend of spices and herbs, but the memorable experience tonight was the owner adding his native Kashmiri heritage in a pot of tea brewed specially for the birthday party: a rich mix of Darjeeling tea, cinnamon, cloves, possibly anise, pods and other seeds and spices.
The samovar he used was copper cast with silver overlay, which was then hand-carved, and has been transported on trips from Kashmir to the Himalayas on horses, yaks or whatever transportation they used in order to serve warm drinks on the cold journey. Being unable to build fires en route in such cold conditions, the Kashmiri samovar evolved into a giant tea pot with built-in burner, a hollowed space for two or three small pieces of charcoal to be burned, which brings the tea to a quick boil from internally generated heat. And because of the hollowed compartment for the charcoal, the Kashmiri samovar is unique in the world.
The downside of the internal combustion system is the wear on the inside where the tea is being boiled, and so every four years the silver coating inside the samovar must be replaced, otherwise the copper bitters the tea, making it what can be guessed as a very un-holy tea-drinking experience.
The samovar in the restaurant easily could serve 10 guests, but is nothing in size to the family samovar back in Kashmir, where tea was made in the morning but no one started drinking tea until two hours after breakfast and then it was drunk throughout the day. The owner had another samovar in the restaurant, and it would serve only two cups of tea. The picture here is of the two-cup samovar and two water pitchers made of equally heavy metals.

30 Years Ago

On the subway heading downtown an elderly Bible preaching lady, Bible in hand, passed through our car, but unlike the majority of these lay-preachers who look directly at people and expound on the virtues of the Bible in stentorian tones, she monologued to herself up and down the car, eschewing her experiences on the beauty of the Bible, nodding to herself and exclaiming on her own comments. She was like an actress at final rehearsals - intense, impassioned, but seemingly unaware of her audience. She was phenomenal and I was cracking up at her range of sighs mixed with ululating tones. Enjoying the woman's presentation style so much, I realized people were getting some modicum of joy out of watching me watching her!

An arm's reach away a 60 or so year-old man finally asked in great English (another surpise!) if I understood. Haha, yes, I got the basic content but told him I was more interested in her unusual presentation and theatrics of "preaching". We talked a bit about the Bible workers, mostly women, who started moving around Korea as early as the late 1800s and he thought peaked in their ministrations in the 1920s. I wonder what the Japanese thought of the wanderings of these colonized people who were strictly registered under the 호적, the family or population census registry, and by registry were not permitted freedom of movement much beyond their villages, but he just shook his head.

Come to find out, he had lived in the US for 28 years, which surprised me as that would put him leaving Korea when it was under the very strict military government of President Jun Doo Hwan. His sister who had married a US soldier had extended an invitation to him, and that was how he got a visa during that restricted time, sometime near the infamous Kwangju Uprising (1980).

I asked him what had changed the most in the past 28 years since he had left, and his immediate response was the amount and demand for IT in Korea. [Well, that's too obvious, even since I first came here in March 1991.] When asked what had changed most about the people themselves, he talked about another ubiquitous theme of Korea, it's education. "The university students are ve-ry smart nowadays!! They know ma-ny things!!"

Back in 1991, I had met a Korean war bride who was just returning for the first time in 30 years since leaving so long before. I had asked her the same question, and her mind-boggling reply that "Now the people smile" was disturbing and reflected a time of hunger and suppression. Telling the man this, he agreed and said, "The students nowadays have no idea about hunger. They only study. We ate rice, but never just rice. It always had to be mixed with wheat." [I've read that millet, barley and beans were common rice bowl substitutes - check on this]. "We never saw meat ... well, we had it during the big holidays like 설날 (Lunar New Year's), 추석 (Harvest Festival/Thanksgiving) and at big festivities like weddings and important birthdays. Now the young people are BIG [gesturing 'fat' also with his hands and arms] and they eat a lot, and many kinds of foods. They eat meat every day and sometimes every meal. We didn't eat much ... it was a very bad time for us. The government made it very bad for us too. No, we didn't smile much. That really has changed."

A Picture Logue of 동구능 (Dongguneung)

Last weekend I ventured to Dongguneung, literally "East 9 tombs (for royalty)". Since Dongguneung became a UNESCO treasure site this past summer, visitors have been roped away from the sculpted slopes upon which the 9 kings and/or famous consorts are buried. In the picture above, people may go to the rope which is immediately behind the ceremonial building, located at the base of the sculpted hill. The main building is where ancestor worship is performed on the anniversary of the death of each respected royalty. A few tombs even have postings on the decorum of laying out the feast for the deceased.


All of the 9 sculpted mountain slopes had the typical neung, royal tumuli or tomb hillock, at the top although visitors were not allowed to get a clear view from their restricted viewing area way down below. I did venture to the top of one sculpted slope - ironically that of a queen, Queen Danui (1686-1718), the first queen of King Geyongjong, the 20th monarch of Joseon, and the queen [I like this!] who was known for her brains and personality. My sole purpose was to actually see the mysteriously arranged stone images at the top, as no model was provided anywhere in the park area, to satisfy the imagination, especially since the minute thumbnail outline-layout of the very complicated arrangement included in the ticketing brochure was unsatisfactory an explanation of the layout. But seeing the arrangement and not being able to get an adequate picture, I quickly started down ... where I was met by a very displeased security guard.



His greatest displeasure was evident in his initial exclamation, "I, security! How I protect tombs if you go break?" I hadn't thought of people actually vandalizing the tombs but when I questioned him on that, he said of course, because this is now a famous UNESCO site and people are attracted to fame and its treasures! Then I understood his outrage and the reason for disallowing any viewing of the mountain top tombs. So, based on people's utter stupidity and acts of destruction, no one is allowed even near the tops of the tombs in order to not only maintain respect for the deceased hidden beneath their mound-shaped earthen sepulchers but also to protect against crass vandalism of the stone images standing in tradition-regulated formation to serve or guard the royalty in his or her after life: the four Confucian scholars (having different scholarly standing is my understanding and probably signifying great learning which was the focus of the Joseon Dynasty) with a horse usually standing behind each (a symbol of military achievements/might/propensity but secondary in position to the scholars), and the four stone tigers and four stone goats (the latter eight animals which are facing away from the tomb in order to protect the king from the 마귀, magui or the evil spirits).

I asked in both Korean (of several visiting individuals) and the transformed, eager-to-speak English guard what was the meaning of each stone statue but they could only tell me that they were there to protect the king from the 마귀.

Later, at the tomb where the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo (1335-1408), was entombed, I was allowed to go up because a Korean lady spoke with a guard about one of her party, an elderly man from a very prestigious region (which I didn't catch), who wanted to see the top. The guard permitted her party of 4 to walk up the hidden wooded side of the mound ... and I just joined the group, which they laughingly nodded their acceptance of my presence. They were rather pleased that I was interested in their culture and also that I spoke enough Korean to communicate cultural ideas about the tombs. At the top, however, the questions regarding the kind of animals standing there and their purposes kept bubbling out, but interestingly, the 4 individuals didn't exactly know much about their not-so ancient culture. My questions did stimulate an interesting discussion among the group on whether the stone tiger represented a tiger, a 해태 (the mythical unicorn lion which stands as guardians outside of villages, even outside the city of Seoul) or a bear.

Finally, a photographer who had also been allowed to the top and was rather knowledgeable about the tomb clarified it as a tiger, the animal of strength and power having some deep relationship to the king. This makes sense as both the tiger and the dragon have been used to symbolize the king. My guess is that the tiger is the symbol of earthly representation and the dragon is the celestial and metaphysical link to heaven or god, both of which can translate synonymously in Chinese. So, the Korean language which derives its cultural meanings from Chinese characters would have the same culturally embedded symbolisms.



Respects are made to the deceased not in the ceremonial building but the small building to the right, the location of the deceased's ancestor tablet(s), depending upon the number of royalty buried on that particular hill. The tablets are always located to the right of the ceremonial building, and although I don't know the exact reason for this, the entire arrangement of the tombs, the buildings, tablets and all objects concerned are based on 풍수지리, pungsujiri in Korean or fengshui in Chinese, but literally translated as "wind water geographic features".

Growing Mushrooms

A rather peculiar sight that needs to be shared is the seeding, growing and harvesting of mushrooms. This particular picture is I believe of pine logs with small holes drilled in them and where the mushroom spores are seeded. The logs are then placed in teepee fashion and maintained in a cool, shaded and somewhat moist atmosphere. In the southern parts of South Korea these teepee log mushroom farms have been situated in small forests or along the sunless forest edges. This particular mushroom farm was at the edge of a bamboo forest near Damyang, the city of bamboo, and was sheltered in someone's backyard in their vinyl house, otherwise known as 'green house'.

The Origin of a Blog

With great speculation I begin to post some words and thoughts on my daily life and travels in Korea. I have always spurned the diary and denied the effort of keeping a journal for the mere reason that someone would seize my thoughts and those thoughts would cease to be mine. But perhaps it's time to compile a collection of memories and adventures to not only share with others but to revive the spirit of discovery in what was once so vibrantly new and culturally stimulating to me.

While others romanticize my foreign life and "exotic" interactions, I have grown accustomed to the differences and they no longer appear different or unusual to me. My camera is tired of kimchi and ancient palaces nestled between soaring scrapers, and I am bored with stories of plastic surgery and movie talents. I have adjusted, adapted, assimilated to a large extent. But there are cultural points that I see almost daily that demonstrate small cultural changes and that can be traced back to historical origins, and these still inspire me as I am interested in the Korean present and how it is so strongly but subtly linked to the past. Deciphering the cultural entanglement of past and the present, which rewrites the past, is challenging! And this is what I shall write about. Therefore, by beginning my blog I hope to sharpen my interests in what has become the usual for me, and once again avidly look for the unusual in the mundane, the ordinary, the Korean.